The result is what Federal Moto call ‘Grand Trunk Express’ and is the modernized version of the classic Royal Enfield Café Racer.

Royal Enfield motorcycles are a fast favourite among customizers and modification shops across India. Now that they are slowly and steadily making their way to the international market, independent customizers are picking up this classic ageless product and giving making it look drool worthy. In this recent example, a Chicago based Federal Moto has converted a Continental GT to something unrecognizable.

Based on the 2014 Royal Enfield Continental GT, the folks at the Federal Moto kept the café racer design of the GT intact, yet making it look different. Federal Moto was commissioned by Royal Enfield’s North American division. The build took the Federal Moto only a month, including both researching and planning and actual built work.

The result is what they call ‘Grand Trunk Express’ and is the modernized version of the classic Royal Enfield Café Racer. Only the frame and the swingarm were retained from the original motorcycle, which was stripped to a bare minimum for the customization work.

Up top is a new, minimal subframe, with a new saddle made with full-grain leather. The headlights and taillights, both are LED unit, while the tail gets a stubby custom-made fender. The frame has been fabricated to hook up to a Triumph Speed Triple sourced mono shock system coated in yellow.

Then there’s a mid-70s Honda CB360 sourced fuel tank. The 535 cc engine was retained and refinished in satin black, with hand-brushed aluminum covers, and swapped all the hardware out for stainless steel fasteners. They also replaced the EFI system with a performance carb conversion kit.

The stock exhaust was replaced with a straight-through drag pipe with internal baffling, finished off with a black wrap and a stainless steel heat shield. The rims were retained and powder coated in black, replaced them with stainless steel spokes, and added fresh Metzeler Lasertec rubber.

A digital dial was also added and there’s a vintage-style headlight up front, with LED turn signals. The most special thing about this Enfield is the new paint scheme, which is a nod to the ‘Grand Trunk Express’ one of India’s oldest and longest railway lines. The actual livery was taken from the Indian Railways passenger train.